Wall Street stocks rally then sink as turbulence continues

It was another shaky day on Wall Street yesterday as indexes rallied in the morning then sank in the last few minutes of trading.

Energy companies dropped along with oil prices and technology companies also declined.

Stocks were coming off a big gain on Tuesday.

At times investors looked ready to jump back in after steep losses on Friday and Monday, yet every gain the market made was met with more selling.

About 20 minutes before the close of trading the Dow Jones industrial average was up more than 260 points, but it finished with a small loss.

After two steep plunges, including its worst loss in six and a half years on Monday, the S&P 500 is down 6.7% from its most recent record high set on January 26.

While markets were noticeably calmer on Wednesday, there are signs that investors are still far more nervous than they were just a few days ago.

The VIX, which is called Wall Street's "fear gauge" because it measures how much volatility investors expect in the future, is currently at 27, more than double where it was two weeks ago. It spiked above 50 early on Tuesday.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that a number of women accused him of sexual harassment or assault, and said he paid 7.5 million dollars to settle one such case.

He has denied the accusations but said he could not be effective in his corporate positions in the face of those allegations. Wynn stock has fallen 11.6% since the Journal's report.

Newspaper publisher Tronc soared 3.45 dollars, or 19.1%, to 21.55 dollars after it agreed to sell the Los Angeles Times and a group of other newspapers to Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong, a major Tronc shareholder and former board member, for 500 million dollars.

Snap, the parent of Snapchat, the disappearing-message application, rose 6.69 dollars, or 47.6%, to 20.75 dollars after it reported strong user growth and greater-than-expected revenue in the fourth quarter.

The stock went public in March and traded above 29 dollars a share shortly after its initial public offering.

The European Commission has cautioned about “spiralling” house prices and has questioned the number of supposedly permanent restructured mortgage deals that banks strike with distressed borrowers that fall apart.